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Saudi Crown Prince Awards the Esports World Cup Champions

The Crown Prince crowns the Saudi club "Team Falcons" as champions of the Esports World Cup 2024 - SPA
The Crown Prince crowns the Saudi club "Team Falcons" as champions of the Esports World Cup 2024 - SPA
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Saudi Crown Prince Awards the Esports World Cup Champions

The Crown Prince crowns the Saudi club "Team Falcons" as champions of the Esports World Cup 2024 - SPA
The Crown Prince crowns the Saudi club "Team Falcons" as champions of the Esports World Cup 2024 - SPA

Under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the inaugural Esports World Cup successfully concluded on Sunday in Riyadh, SPA reported.
Over the past 8 weeks, clubs and players from across the globe came together in Riyadh to compete in the first-ever Esports World Cup. With a total prize pool of over $60 million, the event attracted around 500 teams and 1,500 professional players, marking it as the largest event in Esports history.
The Crown Prince crowned the Saudi club "Team Falcons" as champions of the Esports World Cup 2024. The Falcons secured a total of $7 million in prize money, emerging as the top club in this historic competition.
Team Falcons led the rankings with 5,665 points earned across 12 tournaments, achieving first place in both the "Call of Duty: Warzone" and "Free Fire" championships. This victory showcases the Kingdom’s exceptional national talent in the esports sector.
This event, uniting the gaming and esports community, brought together players, fans, game developers, and publishers from around the world, marking a significant milestone for the esports industry.
With its unique multi-game and multi-genre format, the competition not only featured tournaments among the world’s top clubs, but also strengthened efforts by various entities within the Kingdom and globally to advance the esports landscape. It highlighted the positive impact of esports on communities, enhanced cultural exchange, and encouraged brands to recognize esports as a promising and vital investment opportunity.
The Esports World Cup set record-breaking milestones. It attracted over two million visitors, contributing to over 29% increase in visitors to Riyadh during the event period compared to the same timeframe the previous year. The event also featured more than 32 side entertainment and cultural activities. Across its eight-week run, the Esports World Cup recorded more than 500 million viewers, totaling more than 250 million hours watched—setting a new global record for this year.

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Chelsea Through to Club World Cup Knockouts, Benfica Beat Bayern

Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group D - Esperance de Tunis v Chelsea - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US - June 24, 2025 Esperance Sportive de Tunis' Rodrigo Rodrigues in action with Chelsea's Josh Acheampong and Dario Essugo REUTERS/Susana Vera
Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group D - Esperance de Tunis v Chelsea - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US - June 24, 2025 Esperance Sportive de Tunis' Rodrigo Rodrigues in action with Chelsea's Josh Acheampong and Dario Essugo REUTERS/Susana Vera
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Chelsea Through to Club World Cup Knockouts, Benfica Beat Bayern

Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group D - Esperance de Tunis v Chelsea - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US - June 24, 2025 Esperance Sportive de Tunis' Rodrigo Rodrigues in action with Chelsea's Josh Acheampong and Dario Essugo REUTERS/Susana Vera
Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group D - Esperance de Tunis v Chelsea - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US - June 24, 2025 Esperance Sportive de Tunis' Rodrigo Rodrigues in action with Chelsea's Josh Acheampong and Dario Essugo REUTERS/Susana Vera

Chelsea beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 on Tuesday to set up a Club World Cup last-16 tie against Benfica, who defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 earlier in searing heat.

Elsewhere minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors while Los Angeles FC bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo, AFP reported.

In Charlotte, Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th minute.

The German champions, who left the likes of Harry Kane and Michael Olise on the bench at kick-off, were unable to come back in sweltering afternoon conditions in heatwave-hit North Carolina.

Kane and Olise came on at half-time and Bayern did then look more dangerous, but Leroy Sane was denied when clean through by Benfica's Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.

A draw would have allowed Bayern to top the section but a Kimmich effort that found the net was ruled out for offside and Trubin denied Sane again while Kane mistimed a header late on.

It was Benfica's first ever win in 14 competitive meetings with Bayern and it meant they finished first and will next play Group D runners-up Chelsea in Charlotte in the last 16 on Saturday.

"I think this was a very fair and important win, historic really," said Benfica coach Bruno Lage.

"We were as straightforward and assertive as we should be and I think we were very effective in delivering our strategy today."

Bayern finished second and so will go to Miami on Sunday to take on Brazilian giants Flamengo, with a potential quarter-final against European champions Paris Saint-Germain awaiting.

"You could see that it was really tough conditions so respect to both teams for that," said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany.

"Our first half was not good enough for sure, the second half was definitely more the level that we expected and good enough to score one or two or three goals."

That result meant whatever Boca did against Auckland City in Nashville would not be enough to qualify, but the Argentine giants were still expected to do better than draw 1-1 against the tournament minnows from New Zealand.

Auckland had lost 10-0 to Bayern and 6-0 to Benfica but this time they recovered from falling behind in the first half when goalkeeper Nathan Garrow palmed a Lautaro Di Lollo header into his own net.

Christian Gray equalized with a header in the second half to earn the sole representatives from Oceania a remarkable point.

"You can't say we haven't learned from the experience of being at the tournament, I'm thrilled for the players and the club, it's wonderful. It's something to go home with," said City coach Paul Posa.

"We're a tiny club with a huge heart and that's evident for all to see."

The game was the fifth so far at the tournament to be suspended due to a weather warning, with play stopping for almost an hour -- when the action restarted not a drop of rain had fallen at Geodis Park.

Chelsea eased through to their meeting with Benfica with a clinical 3-0 win over Esperance at Lincoln Financial Field in Group D in Philadelphia.

New signing Liam Delap opened his account for the club with a deftly-taken finish in stoppage time at the end of the first half, just moments after Tosin Adarabioyo had headed the Blues in front.

Teeenage talent Tyrique George added Chelsea's third deep into injury time at the end of the game with a low shot that crept under Esperance goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said.

Flamengo, who had already assured themselves of top spot in the section after wins over Chelsea and Esperance, wrapped up their first-round campaign with a 1-1 draw against already-eliminated LAFC in Orlando.

Los Angeles forward Denis Bouanga threatened to give the MLS side an upset win in their final game of the tournament after a cool finish in the 84th minute, only for Wallace Yan to equalize for Flamengo two minutes later.